It is also about giving new life to existing LDAP – compatible directories on the web and in the cloud, in the spirit of NoSQL and NoXML. LDAP is a proven storage technology for bits of hierarchical data, both textual and binary, and also comes with built-in search and means for user authentication, which make for a great complete stand-alone data store. By coupling directories with a JSON web interface (through Json2Ldap) they can now also get on the web and be readily accessible from browser JavaScript XHR or other web services.

To first time visitors, here is a brief overview of the three pillar NimbusDS products:

Json2Ldap
Turns any LDAP directory into a web friendly JSON-RPC service

Yesterday I published the 2011 and 2012 roadmaps for Json2Ldap and JsonSSO. At present development continues to be driven mostly by the requirements of the Transaction Company project. Initial conceptual work was done on creating interfaces to allow building of Json2Ldap and JsonSSO clusters on top of Memcached / Membase stores. The objective: to make them highly scalable and available services, able to handle many thousands of users with reliability and consistence.

I also started looking for one or more partners, to take over the task of NimbusDS marketing as well as to provide customer support and consulting where needed. The Transaction Company is top on my agenda now and I want to be able to focus on it as needed.

NimbusDS has also published a free and open source Java library, which can be used in resolving DNs from login usernames or email addresses using a DN substitution or search template. There is no dedicated on-line documentation yet, the package, however, comes with superb JavaDocs. You can get the DN Resolver from the NimbusDS download page.